Bill Text: IL HR1002 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates June 7 of every year as a fete a jour day in honor of Marquis de Lafayette.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-12-01 - House Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommends Be Adopted Rules Committee; 003-000-000 [HR1002 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HR1002-Introduced.html

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HR1002 LRB096 21483 GRL 38127 r
HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, For almost a century, the written history of the
State of Illinois was formed under the French flag; and
WHEREAS, French monetary grants, ships, officers, men,
arms, and supplies ensured the success of the American
Revolution; and
WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette, a French army officer,
outfitted, crewed, and supplied a French ship he named Victory
at his own expense; he then sailed the vessel to South Carolina
in support of the American Revolution, arriving in June of
1777; and
WHEREAS, After arriving in the colonies, Marquis de
Lafayette was appointed to serve as an aide to General George
Washington; and
WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was appointed as a major
general of American militia troops by General Washington; and
WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was wounded by British musket
fire while fighting alongside General Washington during the
Battle of Brandywine in 1777; and

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WHEREAS, This gallant French officer became a war hero in
both France and the newly-formed United States; and
WHEREAS, Of all the leading heroes of the American
Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette's name ranks fourth in the
most common geographical site names in the United States, after
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson;
and
WHEREAS, Following the birth of his first-born son on
Christmas Eve of 1779, Marquis de Lafayette named the child
George Washington Lafayette in honor of his friend and
brother-in-arms; and
WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette revisited the United States
and the State of Illinois at the invitation of President James
Monroe in 1824; during his visit, he was offered citizenship by
numerous U.S. states; and
WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was the author of the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document based upon the
Declaration of Independence; he was also the man who ordered
the destruction of the hated French Bastille during the French
Revolution; and
WHEREAS, In honor of Marquis de Lafayette, U.S. soldiers

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during World War I created the battle cry, "Lafayette, we are
here"; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
designate June 7 of every year as a fete a jour day in honor of
Marquis de Lafayette and his courageous efforts to help our
nation gain independence.